$2.195 million gift from James Bolte supports scholarships and athletic facilities at UH Manoa

"I have been a life-long fan of the Rainbow/Warrior football team. The Good Lord has been kind to me and I wanted to thank Him and the people of Hawaiʻi for their goodness. I hope to return to Hawaiʻi soon and cheer on our Warriors in person. My thanks to my attorney Thomas Mui for his assistance." James Bolte

James Bolte, who was a prominent insurance man in Hawaiʻi for many years, has announced a gift of $2.195 million to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation for the football program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The gift, which was presented at halftime to the Na Koa Football Club during the UH Homecoming football game against Louisiana Tech on October 11, will be utilized for football facility renovations or to build a new football facility. The Charitable Remainder Trust donation will also be used to provide student scholarships for members of the football team at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Charitable Remainder Trusts are irrevocable gifts established for charitable purposes where the donor receives an income stream for life, and the charity receives the remainder value when the trust ends.

Bolte was born in California in 1927 to parents who were Kamaʻainas. His grandfather came to Hawaiʻi in the late 1890‘s or early 1900‘s. James Bolte received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Berkeley in Business Administration (Industrial Relations) and a Chartered Life Underwriter designation from the American College of Life Insurance Underwriters.

He was in business for 28 years and spent many of those years as an insurance man in Hawaiʻi. Bolte was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, the premier association of financial professionals. Today, he is retired and living in Nevada.

"The University of Hawaiʻi played its first football game one hundred years ago in 1909. As we celebrate a hundred years of football next year, this type of gift and other planned gifts, truly secures the future for Warrior football," said Jim Donovan, Director, UH Mānoa Athletics.